Augustine’s Just
War Principles
I'm pretty sure I've plagiarized much of this from some source, but cannot now cite it.
1. A just war can
only be waged as a last resort. All
non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.
2. A war is just only
if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even
just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do
not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to
the society deem legitimate.
3. A just war can
only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack
is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is
not sufficient--see point #4). Further,
a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war
is to redress the injury. A country may
not justly start a war to grab another country’s assets such as precious
minerals or other natural resources.
4. A war can only be
just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause
are not morally justifiable.
5. The ultimate goal
of a just war is to re-establish peace.
More specifically, the peace established after the war must be
preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been
fought.
6. The violence used
in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary
to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered.
7. The weapons used
in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of
war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if
they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.
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